Why the charges against Marine Le Pen have been aggravated

The defense of Marine Le Pen, continued in the case of FN parliamentary assistants in the European Parliament, could be based on a legal battle, even on constitutional matters. The charge against the boss of the National Gathering for "breach of trust" and "complicity in violation of trust" was exacerbated this Friday by the investigating judges who were in charge of the case. Marine Le Pen is now being prosecuted for "misappropriation of public funds".

The decision of the Paris investigating judges is based on a judgment of the Court of Cassation of 27 June, which affects the case of Marine Le Pen. The highest French judge dismissed the appeal of five senators or former senators who opposed their charges for "embezzlement of public funds" in the case of the former UMP group in the Senate. The prosecutors complained about these lawsuits based on the law: only those who have government authority or perform a public service mission may be affected by this head. They then felt that they do not manage public money as senators.

In June, however, the Court of Cassation gave the senators "the quality of a person in charge of a public task (…) recognized by everyone who is responsible (…) to carry out actions intended to comply of general interest ". A mission "in essence" transferred to senators, according to the verdict, which states that "the funds made available to parliamentarians have a character of public funds," describes Rodolphe Bosselut, the lawyer of Marine Le Pen.

Appeal to the Court of Cassation

This decision of the Court of Cassation has been reflected in other political-judicial cases, such as the Fillon case, the former prime minister and former member of the Sarthe, also accused for, among others, "misappropriation of public funds". François Fillon had wanted to challenge this leader and in February 2017 his lawyers had indicted an investigation "illegal in violation of various principles", including the separation of powers. Finally, no appeal has been lodged to challenge this indictment.

Marine Le Pen wants to fight. After her indictment on June 30 in the case of the parliamentary assistants of the FN in the European Parliament, she challenged this decision with the investigation chamber of the court of Paris, which rejected her decision. The chairman of the National Assembly brought the case before the Court of Cassation, where she made an appeal. "The correctional chamber of the Supreme Court has just admitted the appeal that it had filed in this case about an absolutely essential means of violating the separation of powers," Bosselut said. The assessment of this appeal will be discussed on 27 November.